59 – Luoyang's Captors

The door of the inn creaked. It was opened in a rather crude way.

A group of people poured into the inn, each wearing a conical hat and government clothing that look like a Jinzhuang [1] underneath a straw jacket. On the chest, they have the word “capture” embroidered in large red letters. Only four people entered the inn, but other similar figures can be seen outside the door.

They are captors [2]! Shui Yuner was surprised – why are they here?

“Why are captors here?” Nangong Mingming asked in a low voice, and Shui Yuner shook her head in response.

“I have a bad feeling.” She added.

A middle-aged man who seemed to be the leader of the team looked around with his sharp eyes and shouted in a an unquestionable tone, “… Official investigation!”

He should be the chief captor.

The inn owner came forward respectfully and asked cautiously, “Sir captors, what brings you here?”

“Official business!” The chief captor sneered, not giving the inn owner face.

“You did a splendid job! Say, are you harboring criminals here?”

Criminals – this word made Shui Yuner's eyebrows jump up.

“That… that's slander, sir officer! I wouldn't dare to do that.” It took the inn owner a moment to react, and then he cried foul in panic.

“Humph, I reckoned as much.”

“Of course.”

The chief captor's expression eased a little, and the inn owner quickly nodded.

To gain the upper hand by a show of strength – although this strategy is old-fas.h.i.+oned, but no one can deny its effectiveness.

“I am a chief captor from Luoyang. Today, we came here to catch a criminal.” The chief captor paused and looked around, and then shouted, “A criminal who ma.s.sacred a village!”

Everyone was silent. Then, virtually at the same time, everyone gasped.

In contrast, Shui Yuner's sigh of relief is slightly odd.

“Ma.s.sacred a village!”

“The perpetrator is hiding here?”

“Have you guys heard of it?”

“Wouldn't that be a nearby village? How scary.”

“Oh, which village had this misfortune?!”

“Is this kind of thing rare these days? What's the fuss about.”

Everyone wagged their tongues. The response is varied – unease, suspicion, surprise, disapproval, and even gloating.

“To do such a thing, they are abominable.” The indignant words of the girl in purple caused Shui Yuner to turn her head and look at the other party.

“Older Sister Shui, is something the matter?” Seeing the surprise on Shui Yuner's face, Nangong Mingming asked.

“It's nothing. I'm just a little surprised that you feel so strongly about crime, Mingming.”

“Feeling strongly about crime?” Nangong Mingming looked surprised, “Isn't it only natural?”

“Natural… indeed.”

But is there really justice in the world?

If there is, then why have the people who took everything away from her gone unpunished?

“… What a joke! Why should I let you investigate me?”

This shout made Shui Yuner come back to her senses.

Not far away, a boy suddenly slapped the table, stood up, and glared at the captor in front of him.

Judging by the uncommon clothes the boy is wearing, he clearly isn't some ordinary person.

Naturally, the chief captor also noticed this. He approached the boy aggressively and stared at him with cold eyes, “I said, I suspect that a criminal who ma.s.sacred a village is hiding here, and so you all have to be investigated.”

The boy is dismissive of the man's warning, “I'm a disciple of the Lion Mountain School! Trifling captors, are you trying to humiliate me?”

After that, he attempted to draw his sword. But the chief captor was faster.

One step ahead, a ruler-straight Hengdao [3] appeared at the boy's neck before his sword could leave the sheath.

With this, the difference in strength between the two is evident.

The sharp edge of the sword tinged with a heavy fishy smell reflects the flickering candle light.

A drop of sweat fell on the blade.

Even though they are separated by some distance, but the sound of the boy swallowing is still clearly audible.

In response, the chief captor uttered with a cold smile, “Do you think we won't dare?”

The boy didn't answer, but his arrogant expression was no longer.

However, compared to his reaction, Shui Yuner paid more attention to the Hengdao in the chief captor's hand.

Although the Hengdao is a standard sword of the Hua Dynasty, but it isn't something that everyone can get their hands on. Even the worst quality Hengdao is still a military article.

Captors have a very low status in the government. It is basically impossible for them to have a Hengdao.

Yet strangely, everyone in this captor team has a Hengdao.

Are they really captors? She has a bad premonition.

This premonition soon came true.

Suddenly, the chief captor's gaze stabbed into Shui Yuner's eyes.

This man is dangerous! The moment their eyes met, Shui Yuner's instincts issued a warning – this chief captor is unusual.

His eyes are unusual, twisted, rotten, and filled with heavy death aura, as if he had just come out from a mountain of corpses.

These are the eyes of a killer.

The man's hands must be stained with blood.

The chief captor narrowed his eyes and examined Shui Yuner top to bottom with his disgusting and sickening eyes.

“Watch him. If he resists, kill him.” The chief captor instructed his subordinate, and then walked towards Shui Yuner and them, “Are you martial artists?”

Not answering immediately, Shui Yuner pondered how she should reply in this unusual situation.

“Yes, or no?” The man asked in a more threatening tone.

“Not really.” Shui Yun'er added, “At least in the strict sense.”

“Wordplay?” The chief captor snorted, “Which sect are you from?”

“We have no sect.”

I don't think so.” The chief captor narrowed his eyes further, his sharp gaze stinging the girl's skin.

What disgusting eyes! Shui Yuner frowned.

“… We are quasi disciples of the Merak Temple, we have not yet officially joined the sect.”

The eyes of the chief captor s.h.i.+mmered with an incomprehensible glint, “Chang'an's enrollment a.s.sembly?”

“Yes.”

“Very good.” He turned around and ordered, “Take them away.”

Take us away? This outcome astonished Shui Yuner.

“Wait! Why are you taking us away?” Nangong Mingming quickly stood up and questioned.

“Why?” The chief captor scoffed, stopped walking, and turned back, “Because you are suspects, that's why.”

“Do you have any proof?”

“You are martial pract.i.tioners, that is proof enough.”

Nangong Mingming was so angry that she instead started smiling, “That's just unreasonable. You guys…”

The words stopped abruptly.

The captors unanimously took out crossbows from under their straw capes.

The bowstrings stretched taut made Shui Yuner's eyes widen sharply.

They aren't captors! Nor can they be bandits! Because whether it is the Hengdaos or the crossbows, both are military equipment!

… They are soldiers!

“If anyone resists, shoot to kill.”

The man emphasized the words “shoot to kill”, his tone filled with killing intent.

Nangong Mingming who is bearing the brunt of it sat down weakly.

She seems to be scared stiff.

She isn't frightened by the killing intent, but rather by the intimidating manner.

The manner of a martial pract.i.tioner.

Clearly, the chief captor is a martial pract.i.tioner, and his cultivation base is higher than that of anyone present.

“Okay, come with us.”

After weighing the situation, Shui Yuner believes that she can only comply.

“Wise choice.” The chief captor humphed with satisfaction, and then shouted, “Retrievers.”

Not waiting for the captors' prompts, Shui Yuner hugged the pipa and stood up, “Mingming, Mingye, let's go.”

Nangong Mingye who has been silent all along stood up obediently. The word “fear” apparently isn't part of his lexicon; his eyes are full of curiosity.

As the saying goes – newborn calves are not afraid of tigers.

Nangong Mingming looked at Shui Yuner with a blank expression, as if to ask “is this really okay?”. Shui Yuner nodded back, indicating that it is fine.

After getting a reply, the girl in purple hesitated for a while before she also stood up.

The three walked towards the exit, where the chief captor is waiting for them.

The moment when they pa.s.sed the innkeeper…

“Notify the Merak Temple.” Shui Yuner begged.

She appeared very natural, so natural that even the two captors escorting them from behind didn't detect anything.

Although she doesn't know if the innkeeper will help her, but she had to try it.

Who are they, what are they after? Shui Yuner tried to guess, and then she discovered…

Six people are taken away, and they all should be martial pract.i.tioners.

[2] –